"Colorado Creates" grants will respond to survey findings

The Colorado Council on the Arts has created a new grant program that will replace its former Grants to Artists and Organizations. The new program, Colorado Creates, is based on information gathered through various sources including surveys and a listening tour. In response to these findings the CCA has determined a list of the most important and effective ways to stimulate creativity and support arts and cultural activities statewide.

Five key strategies that have been placed on top of the list are:

Providing access to grants that leverage other funds and provide a seal of excellence

The program has been designed with the reality of limited state funding in mind and will strive to help promote cultural, educational and economic growth through statewide investments. The CCA will be partnering with individuals, arts organizations, community groups, municipal, county, and state agencies to help achieve their mission.

Grants are awarded annually on a competitive basis based on three main criteria:

Artistic excellence and merit of the proposed activities

Community involvement resulting from the proposed activities

Implementation capacity, such as effective planning, management, and budgeting

The CCA also offers Small Step Awards for programs that focus on arts and cultural heritage that benefit on a smaller community level. Small Steps promotes using arts and culture as a means to strengthen local economies, improve systems such as transportation and urban planning, and strengthen ties within and between cultural groups. The Small Step awards are provided in amounts up to $1,000 for planning processes, consultants, convenings, promotional activities, or other projects which seek to achieve one of the afore mentioned goals and are developmental (a small step in a larger goal) and will bring together people or organizations who have a stake in achieving the goals.

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Allison Michl is a Denver native that has been active in the Denver art scene all her life. She loves nothing more than attending, reading about, and researching local art events from the more formal Denver Art Museum to the Lowbrow art scene. She attended both Western State College of Colorado and CU Denver and has a Bachelors Degree in Art History, Theory, and Criticism.